Views and reviews of over-looked and under-appreciated culture and creativity

Friday, September 26, 2008

slotMusic -- Abuse Your Illusion

So SanDisk and EMI, Sony/BMG, Warner and Universal Music announce the arrival of slotMusic. One of the leading manufacturers of embedded memory devices and the four major record labels are coming together to bring albums loaded on special miniSD cards to market.

The problem is the serious disconnect between what consumers want, and what the labels are prepared to give them. The major labels want to sell physical product -- what music's on it really doesn't matter that much. The customers want to buy music -- whether or not it's attached to any kind of physical product is irrelevant.

See how this is going to end badly?

Why do the majors continue to cling to the concept of selling physical units instead of chunks of audio data? Because their whole structure is based on that manufacturing-based business model used by soft drink companies, car companies, and many, many others. But music has shifted to more of an information technology business, which uses a different structure, different skill sets, and a different business model.

Almost ten years into the digital music revolution, and we get slotMusic.

Well, you can't turn a charging dinosaur on a dime, you know. But it would be nice if those riding it could at least steer the beast towards the right general direction.